is a series of six wood-carved canines, which he says function as allegories, telling the stories of soldiers injured during wartime. The dogs circle a small coffin draped in an American flag - an element inspired by real images he saw of a soldier's coffin being taken off an airplane, followed by a smaller box containing the soldier's dog. Mellick's voice cracked as he spoke about meeting wounded veterans, some of whom said they "walked in the footsteps of their dogs to stay alive." Those emotions, he said, also were experienced by people who visited "Wounded Warrior Dogs" in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel lobby. "There were a lot of tears," he said during a press conference after the ArtPrize Awards ceremony Friday, Oct. 7. "The Amway had me putting out boxes of tissue for people."

Mellick was also understandably elated, having won the 3-D category award earlier in the evening, which was trumped by the grand prize about an hour later. Winning the category prize "felt like being pinched a little bit," but taking the $200,000 was like "being kicked hard in the butt, if pleasure can be derived from that," he said, grinning. Although Mellick is based in Milford Center, Ohio, he has a connection to Grand Rapids. He was head of the sculpture program at Calvin College from 1989-91, and one of his works, "Da Vinci's Dog," which he carved in 1986 in response to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, is on display at Calvin's Covenant Fine Arts Center. Per ArtPrize rules, his $12,500 category prize is forfeited in the wake of winning the grand prize.

Mellick has been a wood carver since 1976, and has been carving his "dog allegories" since 1985, using the dog as a "totem animal" to address the human condition. Asked why he doesn't carve images of soldiers instead of dogs representing them, Mellick said, "people have trouble looking at wounded soldiers. The dogs bring out a completely different emotion." He said he normally drops off his work at exhibitions and hears feedback second hand, but being at ArtPrize allowed him to witness the public's reactions in person. "The work has really been completed by the visitors and the stories they share," he said. "There's catharsis in the exhibition. It was an emotional event, a healing event for people."

Three additional winners in the public vote took home $12,500 in individual categories. "Portraits of Light and Shadow," by Joao Paolo Goncalves of Pompano Beach, Florida, won in the 2-D category. Located in DeVos Place Convention Center, the piece features "pixel portraits," made of angled wood, depicting Martin Luther King Jr., Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring. Without strategic lighting, the work is abstract. ArtPrizers were invited to flip a switch shining a light on each portrait, revealing its subject - an interactive aspect he hadn't included in previous showings of his work. "(People) thought it was painted," Goncalves said. "I wanted people to experience that before they made a decision about voting. "Sweeper's Clock," a 12-hour video in which men swept garbage in lines forming clock hands moving in real time, won the in the time-based category. The entry, by Maarten Baas of Den Bosch, North Brabant, Netherlands, is notable for being the only ArtPrize entry to make both the public-vote and juried finalist category lists. It is on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Baas was not present to accept his award. The installation category winner was "The Butterfly Effect," by Allison Leigh Smith and Bryce Pettit of Durango, Colorado. The work consists of 1,234 bronze Monarch butterflies, which fill a large corner of the skywalk within the DeVos Place Convention Center. "We came knowing we wanted to connect with the public," Pettit said. "We want to create a lot of meaning and feeling, and I think we achieved some of that... We knew we needed to make 1,000 butterflies, to create an immersive experience."

ArtPrize officials said 37,433 registered visitors cast 380,119 votes in two rounds of voting in this year's contest. Between the public vote and juried awards, a total of $487,500 in prizes were given away. All ArtPrize works will be on display through 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. A complete, ranked list of the public vote category finalists can be seen at the ArtPrize website, or on the ArtPrize mobile app.